Koka Sexton, Social Selling Evangelist and Sr. Social Marketing Manager at LinkedIn, is one of the most recognized social selling experts in the technology industry. A career in helping companies use social media for lead generation, creating new opportunities, and engaging customers. READ MORE at the LinkedIn Sales Solutions blog.

In an era when everyone is competing for attention, telling stories your prospects can identify with can greatly improve your sales lead generation. Here are a few ways to gather your sales prospects around the campfire and tell your story.

When a prospect pursues new initiatives, they must first present a business case, gain buy-in from various committees, and get budget approval to move forward. Numbers are the defining factors here; you need to convince the financial gatekeepers that your solutions will solve a problem, advance the organization’s ability to generate revenue, and ultimately produce a good return on the investment.

Every successful sales relationship starts with a conversation. Sales reps must establish rapport with their prospects before advancing through the buying cycle, and commenting provides a unique opportunity to initiate and strengthen relationships. In fact, 39% of sales reps who regularly comment on their sales prospects’ LinkedIn activities exceed their quota.

To help you stick with your sales goals in 2015, we recently asked some of the industry’s top sales reps about their resolutions to utilize social selling in 2015 and how they plan to stay on track. Read on to discover advice you can use to achieve your career goals over the course of the coming year.